ZHOPE Coast to Coast

Zach passed away last night. He was a great man and still is an inspiration to us all. His funeral will be held later this week. His family is very strong and appears to be doing well, but they could use all the support they can get. For the funeral we would like to present his parents with a gift from all of Zach’s friends and supporters.

If you have a chance please email, post a message in his facebook group, or leave a comment here. This should be about a favorite story about Zach, a picture, condolences for his family, a message of what Zach means to you, or any words of support you have for his family. For us to be able to present this to his parents at the funeral, please leave your message by Tuesday evening.

We are still waiting to hear about the final funeral arrangements, but we will post those when we know more about them.

Again, either email your message or any questions you have to me at timothyflint at gmail dot com, post them to the facebook group wall, or leave a comment hear.

Zach received the bike signed by Lance Armstong at the Geneva Bicycle Center on Friday, October 24.

Thanks to each and every one of you for voting for Zach in the Livestrong video contest and helping us share his remarkable story. Bike shop owner and long-time friend of Zach, Jim Hogan, said a few words about the extraordinary man Zach is - honorable, optimistic, and happy. At the bike shop were Zach’s friends, family, and a couple of local reporters. Zach told the reporters, “The bike’s a perfect fit. But it’s not about the bike, it’s about the people.” Again, Zach’s right. It’s about all the people who lift Zach and are lifted by him in return - you, me, everyone who learns of his remarkable battle with a terrible disease.

I wish Zach’s many thousands of supporters could have been there on Friday to congratulate him.

Thanks again. Please continue to keep Zach in your thoughts and prayers. He is very frail.

Congratulations to Zach for winning the Lance Armstrong Foundation “Dare to Share Your Story” video contest and the bike signed by Lance.

Thanks to the thousands of people who voted for Zach throughout the week to make this possible. All the finalists are incredible and we are honored to have received so much support during this contest.

Mike took the time to put together a poster. Take it and give it to everyone you can. If you can’t reach enough people online give this poster out. You can even put it on message boards at school or anywhere you can think of. Thanks for you for all of your help. We are so close. We need as many votes as we can get.

About

Zach DeRidder is a man over coming a rare form of cancer. He has established this foundation to help raise awareness for cancer, and to share his journey of living his inspiring dream of riding across America.